Camera shots:
Steady camera work at the beginning, then it gets much jumpier as Ben is panicking and tells the others the code
Lots of camera movement to reflect chaos in the kitchen
Fast tracking towards woman at front desk - as if being attacked
Straight cuts used to show a sample of who is there, close ups/medium shots to show the distress
Tight frame-No more long shots in room, emphasies they are trapped in small room, when woman collapses
Long tracking in the lunch hall show the variety of ethnic groups eating together
Lots of close up on immigrants by locker to show emotion and sense of loss
Editing:
Shot reverse shot at the front desk
Fast zooms
Cross cuts in the room where they are trapped to the men looking for them.
Sound:
Code used to buy time, music that creates suspense is heard (non diegetic)
'rules of the game' not a game, peoples lives
Soundtrack changes to something more sympathetic, mood changes, increases sadness.
Use of foreign languages
Mise-en-scene:
Police uniform
Suits
Smile after giving code
Emphasis on the shutters, keys, lock highlight their entrapment
Ibrahim defined by his job, hoover is first thing we see (tilt)
Photos from his locker show behind each illegal immigrant there is a tragic story
Immigration officers: formation of three as they approach front desk, suggests authority and power. Audience are positioned against him
Illegal immigrants: Script is important as our sympathy for them is heightened as they have escaped horrible situations and try and survive by doing any job, even when they are trained in a particular profession - ''I wasn't always a cleaner'' The woman looks at him as if to say what are you doing and wrongly assumes he is uneducated. Has same presumptions as us because of where she comes from, western country.
Hotel staff: Care for their staff in comparison to the immigration officers. Binary opposites, good vs evil.
The extract presents representations of different ethnic groups including white immigration officers, the illegal immigrants themselves and the hotel staff who seek to protect them. The audience are automatically positioned against the immigration officers, shown through the camerawork where the fast tracking towards the woman at the reception desk reveals she is the one they are approaching. This is also seen in the amount of camera movement to show the chaos in the kitchen. Moreover, the formation of three that they enter in, draws attention to their authority and power.
The camerawork at the start of the extract is slow and steady, but begins to get jumpy as Ben is given the code to go and hide the illegal immigrants. This reflects the panic that the characters are in. Moreover, the shot reverse shot at the reception desk where the woman smirks, shows she knows they will not find the illegal immigrants, which causes the audience to side with her even more as she is helping to protect them. A non diegetic soundtrack is then heard that creates suspense for the audience, as we are desperate to know whether they all hide in time. The mise-en-scene is important as it can show status. Ben, a character of ethnic minority is in a suit, which automatically gives him status over other characters of ethnic minority, who wear maid uniforms. This close attention to costumes also relates to the uniform worn by the police at the beginning of the extract, and shows the power they have over the hotel staff and the illegal immigrants. Furthermore, by incorporating foreign languages, the illegal immigrants are represented as 'other' s they do not understand our language, which ultimately excludes them from our society.
The close up shots of the keys and the lock, seen through the shutters, are another form of mise-en-scene that emphasise the illegal immigrants entrapment. The use of tight frame in the room shows they are trapped in a small place. This entrapment echoes the fact that people of an ethnic minority usually have to work illegally as they cannot return back to their own country, and are essentially trapped no matter where they go. Furthermore, straight cuts are used to show a sample of who is locked in the room and a combination of close ups an medium shots are used to draw attention to the distressing situation these characters find themselves in. The script itself is a vital part of the representation of the illegal immigrants.The words 'I wasn't always a cleaner' bring to light the fact that this man is trained in a particular profession but is working as a cleaner to earn a living. This is due to them surviving horrible circumstances and having to flee their home countries in order to live. The woman looks at him and questions what he is doing as she presumes he is just a cleaner. She wrongly assumes he is uneducated because of his ethnic background, which reinforces our western stereotypical views of people from ethnic minority groups.
The editing technique used when the illegal immigrants are in the cupboard is cross cutting. The scenes cut back to those of the immigration officers searching the hotel for them, and also of Ibrahim obliviously cleaning. The effect of cross cutting between the two situations is that it increases tension for the audience who sympathise with the illegal immigrants. Ibrahim is defined by his job which is evident through the tilt shot that firstly shows the hoover and then moves up to reveal him.
When the immigration officers capture Ibrahim, it becomes clear that they are binary opposites of the hotel staff. It is a case of good and evil as the officer cold heartedly says 'it's the rules of the game'. This is a crucial moment for the audience as we feel even more sympathy for the illegal immigrants, as it is not a game, it is their lives. The hotel staff resemble the good people as they take a genuine interest in looking after all of their staff, not just the ones who legally work there.
As the soundtrack changes to a more sympathetic tune, the mood drastically changes as people reflect on what has happened and the danger that Ibrahim now faces. This is followed by various close up shots of the remaining illegal immigrant workers surrounding what was Ibrahim's locker, as the woman sifts through his things. These shots show their emotion and reveal a sense of loss and show how vulnerable they are to officials, because of their ethnicity. The mise-en-scene here shows the personal belongings of Ibrahim, with photos of what we can only presume are his family. This shows that behind each illegal immigrant, there is a tragic story of why they have come to England to seek work and our anger grows towards the immigration officers.
The extract draws to a close with a long tracking shot of the cafeteria and exposes the variety of ethnic groups working there and provides a sense of community within the hotel staff. Lastly, it is the early audience positioning that causes us to side with the immigrants and see them as victims but also as people, who essentially just want to get by whilst fearing for their lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment